


House-full of Kittens

by HuiLian



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, background Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 11:37:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: Damian was missing. Where in the world is he?





	House-full of Kittens

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!! Finals took me and didn't want to give me back. Then life happens, yada yada. Hope that I can write a lot during this holidays, because when the school start again, oh boy, it's going to be hell.  
> Fun story, this actually happens to my next door neighbor. Not the missing part, but the kittens inside the house. The house empty, and it was raining season, and well, read the fic. Not to worry, no kittens were harmed in the making of this fic.

 

Damian was missing. They had just returned from patrol, and Dick was looking for a peaceful day. There were no charity event, no business meeting, and no truly heavy case for Batman. It was supposed to be a relaxing day. That hope vanished when he didn't find Damian anywhere in the Tower.

Dick's first thought was that Damian had been kidnapped. God knows it happened often enough. Yet his gut told him that that was not the case. The Tower's security was too tight for regular kidnappers to come, and Damian was trained enough for the 'irregular' kidnappers. Not to mention that Damian wouldn't have come quietly, regular or irregular kidnappers.

His second thought was that Talia had come for Damian. No, that was not the case either. Talia would gloat, or at least left a note telling him that she had Damian. It was something Talia would definitely do. But there was no message, no call. This was not Talia's doing.

So that left only one thing. Damian went out of his own volition. Now, Dick only need to figure out where Damian went.

He tried to track Damian's phone at first. That reminded him of when he was Damian age. He would throw a fit whenever Bruce tagged his phone. He gave Bruce a silent apology. It was very useful in figuring out the whereabouts of unruly children. Besides, every phone had a GPS now. He didn't have to tag Damian's phone. He just had to track it's GPS.

Damn. He should have known. Damian left his phone at the penthouse. He would have to bring the big guns.

He called Barbara.

"Babs? Are you busy?"

"I'm always busy, Boy Wonder." Dick could hear computer keys clicking. "What do you need?"

"Can you track Damian?"

"Damian?" Now the clicking stopped. "Isn't he with you?"

Dick shook his head. He knew Babs could see him, even thought the Penthouse was supposed to be a camera-free zone.

A sigh came from the phone. "What trouble has he gotten into this time?"

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me." Dick knew he was teasing. He also knew that he should be frantic. His baby brother was missing for goodness sake. But Damian could handle himself. Especially when all the Rouges were inside Arkham and there was no vehicle missing from the Bunker. Damian was probably on a quest that he was too ashamed to tell Dick.

Most likely something age-appropriate.

"Of course I could tell you, FBW. But what will you give me in return?" Barbara's voice was teasing. So Damian truly was nowhere dangerous. If he was, Babs won't be teasing.

That left him time to tease back. "Am I not enough?"

"Oh, stop that. Damian's on East 13th Street, house number 25. Any idea what he could be doing there?"

"Well, I'm going to find out. Thanks, Babs!"

"No problem, Boy Wonder. See you on patrol tonight?"

"'Course, Babs. Bye! I've got a baby brother to fetch!"

Dick put down the phone and started thinking. East 13th Street. What is Damian doing there?

***

Babs were right, as always. Dick could hear Damian's voice from inside the house. It was muffled enough that he couldn't make out the words, but Damian was speaking in a soothing tone. Like he was speaking to victims. Or small children.

Meow.

Or cats. That _would_ make Damian speak in a soothing tone.

Dick sighed. So Damian left the Tower without notice to go see a cat. Of course he would. That was Damian down to the bone. Dick was pretty sure that he would have to stop Damian from smuggling this cat to the Penthouse.

A chorus of meows was heard from behind the door. Not this cat, then. These _cats_.

Dick opened the door, which was clearly broken into, and stepped into the house.

The house was abandoned. The floor was dirty and the windows looked like it hadn't been opened in quite some time. There was barely any furniture, just a closet that seemed to be nailed to the floor. In the middle of it was Damian, with a kitten on his hands and five others next to him.

Dick immediately wished he had a camera. The sight of Damian gently holding a kitten with the rest of the kittens snuggling up to him was something he wanted to cherish forever. And show to everyone who think that Damian is a mindless killer.

"Grayson," Damian said, completely unbothered but the fact that he was sitting in a filthy floor surrounded by kittens in a place he had obviously broken into. Oh, and let's not forget that he had just ran away.

Dick was at lost for words. He was not that bad as a child, was he?

"Damian," he began. he didn't know what to say, so the only thing that came was, "Are those kittens?"

"Tt. They are clearly kittens, Grayson. Is something wrong with your vision?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Dick let exasperation color his words. Now that he was pissed, he found that words came easily. "Hi, Damian. Are those kittens in a place you broke in into, when you left the Tower without notifying anyone where you're going?"

Damian's face turned sheepish. He cradled the kitten in his arms and turned towards Dick. "You were tired. I didn't wish to disturb you."

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose. Damian was a kind and thoughtful child, really. He just didn't know how to express those kindness and thoughtfulness in the right way. Dick sighed. "When you left without notice, did it occur to you that it would disturb me more than you simply telling me where you want to go? This time you were only in an abandoned building playing with kittens. What if next time it was a kidnapping?"

Damian lowered his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry, Grayson. It didn't occur to me that this would be a distress to you."

Dick sighed again. This kid is going to be the death of him. "It's all right. Don't do it again, okay?"

Damian nodded.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Dick found himself asking.

Damian gestured to the kittens.

"Yeah, I know you're here for the kittens. Why are you here, specifically here, with the kittens?"

Damian shrugged. "I heard them when we were passing through on patrol. They were meowing incessantly. I gathered that they must be in some kind of distress. But we were chasing that robber, so I thought to come here after patrol."

Wait, patrol? Oh yeah, they did went through this area on patrol. Dick didn't hear anything then. Damian must always be listening for sounds of animal in distress for him to be able to hear this. Well, and the bragged genetics excellence.

"I was right. It appears that the mother gave birth here, and then was locked out of the place when she went out again. All the windows were closed and the door was locked. She didn't return here. The kittens were half-starved when I came."

Now Dick register the box full of supplies. Milk, kitten food, and blankets were just what was at the top of it. "Have you fed them?" Dick asked.

"Of course I've fed them. What do you think I am, an imbecile?"

"Okay, okay," Dick placated the boy. "Just checking." They fall into a companionable silence, each one content with simply savoring the moment.

After a while, Dick said, "You do know that the kittens will need a home, right? We can't keep them."

"Tt. Of course. You have made that quite clear."

They fall into silence again. This time, it was not so companionable. Dick could tell that something was bothering Damian, and it wasn't that he couldn't keep the kittens. It was deeper than that.

"We can give them to the shelter, or to Selina. The will be well cared for. But that's not what's bothering you, is it, Damian?"

"Who says I'm bothered?" Damian bit back.

"C'mon. You know I know you better than that. Do you want to talk about it?"

Damian shifted. He put down the kitten on his arms down to the floor, then started to wring his hands. Dick waited patiently. Damian couldn't be rushed. Not for something like this.

"The mother left," Damian said suddenly. "The kittens needed here, but she simply left."

Dick understood immediately. "Oh, Damian."

"I don't want your pity, Grayson," Damian snapped.

Dick sighed. Of course Damian didn't want his pity. Even though it was not pity. "All right. What do you want, then?"

"To get this kittens a home."

Right. Misdirection. Classic. Dick would humor him, though.

"We could do that. The shelter, or Selina?"

"Kyle would do."

"Okay, then. Let's go."

They worked together in preparing the kittens to give to Selina. Dick moved all the supplies out of the box, while Damian wrapped each kitten in a blanket. Then, they put all the kittens in the box. Damian lifted the box and they got on Dick's car.

"You know that there are still people who cares about you, right?" Dick asked on the drive to Selina's current apartment.

Damian was silent for a moment. He looked towards Dick, then back down towards the box full of kittens on his hands. "Yes, I do know that," he finally said. "You've made that quite clear."

**Author's Note:**

> check out my tumblr (huilian.tumblr.com)


End file.
